


Third Moon

by redgoth



Category: Original Work
Genre: Agender Character, Angels, Mentions of Death, Original Fiction, Other, Pre-Relationship, The Council of Magic is for DICKS, Vampires, Werewolves, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-09-09 03:30:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8874067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redgoth/pseuds/redgoth
Summary: The third full moon after the third year of Jon's death is when weird things begin happening to the house on Fern Street.





	

**Author's Note:**

> DID U KNO: i entered this into my school's short story contest and it got second place :0 i've been writing about these characters a lot and i love them so much

The day Jon died wasn’t the day Amir felt his heart break. Amir didn’t cry the day Jon died. He didn’t cry the next day, or the day after that. He didn’t cry at the funeral, or at the grave. It took a month for any tears to fall.

He was home alone for the first time since Jon’s death. Max had went out for groceries and Amir was left to wander through the empty house. The first time he cried in a month was the day he opened the door to Jon’s room and curled up on his bed, everything finally starting to set in that his best friend was never coming back. He sobbed and wailed for what felt like hours, bawled his eyes out until Max came home and dragged him out from the abandoned room, weeped as she pulled him into a tight, bone crunching hug, cried as his chest felt like it would never be full again.

There were worse nights after that, nights spent studying darker magics, talk of resurrection spells, horrible nights that made Max keep an extra careful eye on her only housemate.

There were good days, too, of course. The good days started coming after nearly two years, but Max was proud of them. Proud that Amir started playing music around the house while mixing potions and writing spells, glad that he started drawing sigils on the door frames and sewing newer ones onto their clothes. Happy to see him actually making moon water and charging crystals during full moons rather than drawing closer to an anxiety attack at every glance of the satellite in the night sky.

After three years, things were at least a little different.

The addition of an fallen angel to the group was a bit bizarre, but honestly, Amir wasn’t too overly surprised. A witch, a vampire, and an angel staying in one house wasn’t much more absurd than a witch, a vampire, and a werewolf. But Jon and Zion were incredibly different, in personality and appearance. While Jon was usually smiling, Amir was pretty sure he’d never seen Zion show any emotion other than disdain. (“They smile, sometimes.” Max says. Amir doesn’t believe her.) While Zion would go out in the least amount of clothes possible, Jon was always bundled up in his giant hoodie. They had their similarities, too, both Jon and Zion would wander around the streets with no shoes, although they had their own drastically different reasons. (“My feet are awesome and I can walk on anything!” Jon had shouted when Max called him out for not having shoes. “It reminds me of the burning holy grounds…” Zion had claimed when Amir questioned them.) Truthfully, Amir didn’t like thinking about their differences and similarities. It made him sad.

Three years was a long time, even to Max, and immortal being, and Amir, whose lifespan outlasted any human by hundreds of years.

(It probably helped that they were both young, by human standards. While Max was eternally 24, it had only been a few years since she was bit, and Amir was only a few years older than her.)  
The third full moon after the third anniversary of Jon’s death was when things started happening.  
The third full moon was the first time Amir saw a glimpse of a shaggy brown tail out his bedroom window.

He tried to shrug it off. Of course other werewolves existed, and it was likely they could be moving into their neighborhood. The werewolf on Fern Street was dead, others could live there without having to put up a fight. Maybe it was just a lost dog. Amir  thought up countless things that it could be. He refused to think of Jon. Refused to think anything was possible besides Jon’s bloody corpse lying cold in the middle of the forest.

Max wasn’t fond of him thinking about that, but she supposed it was probably better than him overthinking the blurry sight of what was probably a dog.

A week later, Max found claw marks on the driveway. And a hole dug in the grass, filled with offerings, shiny stones and seashells.

“You didn’t do this… right?” She asked as soon as she stepped inside the house. Amir was laying on the couch, Zion hovering in the corner.

“Do what?” Amir asked, sitting up awkwardly.

“Dig a hole in the front yard and fill it with shells and rocks.” For emphasis, she held up one of each that she had taken.

“What?” Amir stood up all too quickly and stumbled over to her, grabbing the rock from her hand. “I didn’t… I didn’t do that.”

Max swallowed thickly, before turning to face Zion. They had since moved from their corner and was now standing behind Amir and Max. Max held up the shell. “Did you do this?” She asked again. Zion stayed silent for a long moment, but that wasn’t out of the ordinary.

“No.” They replied curtly, then vanished out of the air, appearing four feet away and refusing to be in the direction of either Max or Amir. The two exchanged a look, but shrugged it off and returned to the offerings.

“Who did it?” Max mumbled, walking away from Amir and into the kitchen. Amir followed closely behind. Max set the shell down on the island and Amir did the same with the purple rock.

“I don’t know any other magic beings who know where we live.” He said.

“The Council of Magic hasn’t bothered you in… what? Five years? Could it be them?” Max asked, staring daggers at the offerings.

“They wouldn’t do something like this, Max.” Amir leaned back against the counter top, folding his arms over his chest. “They’d send goblins and things to kill us, yes, but offerings? No…”

“How kind.” Max sneered. “Maybe we could ask Zion…”

“They didn’t seem too thrilled about it.” Amir rolled his eyes. Zion never seemed excited about anything.

“We can try.” Max shrugged. She turned to go to the fallen angel, only to almost walk directly into them. They shuttered with light and the fog that was their body disappeared, leaving only the form of a short human. Max stepped back. “Zion.” She said.

“You want to know who dug the hole.” They said.

“Yes.” Max answered, watching her housemate carefully.

“That’s why we keep you around.” Amir rolled his eyes. Zion pulled at the glowing gold headphones around their neck.

“That’s not nice.” They said, turning away from Max and Amir. “I can’t tell you.”

Max groaned irritably, folding her arms over her chest. “Why not?”

Zion stood still for a long moment. A sort of static filled the air, and Amir side-stepped to stand closer to Max. When Zion turned back to them, their third eye was the only one open. The two tensed as the eye blinked once, slowly.

“I cannot tell you. It will interfere with your thoughts, and consume you.” Their human form flickered, and within seconds they were back to the thick mass of translucent fog. They disappeared for merely a second, before returning again. “Do not ask again.” They said, curtly, before vanishing once more.

Amir stood still for another long moment, looking at the spot where the angel had been. He brought his hand up to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing heavily. “Why are they like this.”

“They haven’t interacted with people until recently?” Max offered, but even she wasn’t entirely convinced with that answer. Amir shook his head and took the offerings, walking back outside and placing them into the hole. He examined it closely, looking at the different rocks and shells. There was a button, too, forest green. He went back inside after a few minutes.

“The sun’s coming up.” Amir sighed. “I’m going to bed.”

Max nodded slowly, watching the witch leave the room and slowly head towards the stairs. He seemed almost sedated. She bit her lip with her dulled teeth. “I’ll be out here, if you want to talk…” She said. Amir waved her off as he wandered up the stairs.

Once in his room, he closed the blinds, locking out any light, and changed out of his clothes and into an old shirt and some sweatpants, before simply falling back onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

It took two hours for Amir or restless turning to wander back down the stairs and into the living room, where Max and Zion sat on the couch. Max had her head in a book, her pitch black hair pinned up in a bun. Zion was in their human form, although they only sat stock still, staring straight ahead. Amir chose to ignore the angel as he stepped in front of Max. She didn’t move at all at first, only continued reading, until Amir cleared his throat. Her eyes widened briefly at the sight of him, and she quickly dog eared the page in her book and closed it.

“Hi, Amir.” Max said as she placed the book on the side table.

“What if it’s Jon?” Amir said, getting right to the point. Max took a deep breath, pushing one of the stray strands of hair out of her face.

“Amir…” She patted the seat next to her. Zion was no longer on the couch. Amir took a seat, but stared at his housemate intently. “Jon is dead.”

Amir flinched a little at that, his eyes going down to his lap. Max sighed, feeling horrible about having to continue this.

“He’s dead. He wasn’t a vampire, he wasn’t some sort of immortal being, he was just a werewolf.” She shifted so she was facing Amir, she watched his face carefully. Tears began to fill in her own eyes and she continued on. “He was a werewolf, and werewolves can die. Werewolves can be killed… we all can be killed. You’re the most human of the three of us, you can die if we don’t feed you. I’ll die if I go outside in the daytime without my cloak and umbrella.”

“Zion can’t die.” Amir muttered.

“Zion...” she started, looking around to see if they would pop up anywhere. They appeared not even a foot away from them. Max smiled, just slightly. “Zion isn’t like anything we’ve ever encountered, so I think Zion gets a free pass on death.”

“I am a being of light.” Zion said. Max and Amir snickered slightly. The vampire turned her attention back to Amir. She grabbed his hand and held it tightly.

“Jon is dead.” She repeated, her red eyes locking with his. “We saw his body in the forest, and we saw him lowered into the ground. And that’s the last time we’ll truly see him.”

Tears filled both of their eyes as they stared at each other. “I miss him.” Amir whispered. Max leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the witch, hugging him tightly.

“I know… I do, too…” She said softly, squeezing her eyes shut.

A sort of warmth settled over them, and when they pulled apart to find the cause, Zion was pressed against them. Their dark skin sent off waves of heat, pooling around the group. They all stayed still for a long while, before Zion slowly began to shudder with light and pull away.

“Physical contact… is… good, correct?” They asked, sounding almost… nervous. Amir gave a slight smile.

“Correct.” He answered. Zion’s lips quirked up in what could almost be considered a smile.  
Max laughed lightly, pressing the back of her hand to her eyes, scrubbing away any remaining tears, before turning her attention to Amir. “Alright.” She nodded. “It’s time for you to go to sleep. You need rest.”

Amir rolled his eyes and stood up. “You do, too.”

Max shrugged. “I’m immortal, I’ll sleep when I’m tired.”

“I don’t see how that’s an excuse, but considering I suddenly feel infinitely more tired now, I’ll let it slide and say it’s a fair point.” Amir stuffed his hands into his pockets as Max nodded.

“Good, good. Good night, Am.” She said.

“Night, Maisie.” He said, and left the living room then, going back up the stairs and into his room, where he collapsed onto his bed and almost immediately fell asleep.  
  
When Amir woke up hours later, it was dark once again, and there was noise coming from the kitchen.

It wasn’t Zion, that was just a fact of life, and Max was usually… out… hunting at this time. While it was possible Max just got a late start on hunting, something felt uneasy as Amir forced himself up out of bed. He left the room and whispered a banishing spell under his breath as he moved down the stairs. He stopped briefly at the front door, grabbing the baseball bat Max always left there. For the first time, Amir thought he finally understood why.

The sound of plastic bags crinkling in the kitchen made him hesitate, taking a deep breath. Was someone… eating their food? ...Definitely not Max. Definitely not Zion. He held the bat tighter in his grip as he inched down the hallway.

Something felt… off, about whatever this was. It didn’t feel like all the times they had been attacked by the Council, or by anyone else. There was a certain thickness in the air that came with their presence, but it wasn’t there. The air felt normal, almost sweet, no heavy feeling weighing him down.

When he stepped into the kitchen, there was someone sitting on the kitchen table, a box of cereal in their grip. They were facing away from Amir, but there was something horribly familiar about the curly brown hair and ratty old blue hoodie. Their tail swished, and they hoped up, spinning around to face him. Jon’s face stared him down, a bright grin on his lips.

“Amir!” He jumped off the kitchen table and rushed up to him. “I was wondering when you’d wake up, you always sleep a lot but you guys have kinda shifted schedules since I was here.”

When the werewolf got too close, Amir held up the baseball bat as a sort of shield. “Who are you?” He asked, a sort of anger boiling in his chest. Jon’s smile faltered.

“It’s-, It’s me, Amir.” Jon said, suddenly much more shy. “I’m sorry, I-”

“Jon’s dead.” Amir said, glaring daggers. Jon hesitated, before taking a step back and turning away, shoving his hands into his hair.

“I should have come back sooner.” He muttered. “Dammit.” He pulled at his hair, but winced when his hand got caught in the tangles. He turned around and wrang his hands together, taking a deep breath. “I’m not dead.”

“I saw him die.” Amir snarled, and Jon raised an eyebrow.

“No, no you did not.” Jon pointed a finger at him. Amir glared, and Jon reminded himself to make sure he didn’t get hexed after all this. “You saw me dead, you didn’t see me die.”

“So you admit you’re dead!” Amir snapped, before huffing a little at himself, “I mean, he’s dead…?”

“Shit!” Jon furrowed his eyebrows and spun around in a circle, something he always did when he was distraught. “No, that’s not what I meant.” He brought his hand up to his face again, taking a deep breath. “Amir, listen to me. Three and a half years ago, the Council of Magic got word that a witch and a werewolf were living together.” He said, Amir’s eyes widened a little.

“What?” He asked.

“You know their negative feelings about mixing species, even if we all come from the same thing. They didn’t know about Max, probably because she was only bitten a few months before and the vampire who bit her was killed.” Jon rambled, and Amir nodded.

“And how did that vampire die?” He asked. Jon almost laughed.

“Are you testing me? That was us who killed that son of a bitch. You and me. He hurt Max, anyone who hurt’s Max has gotta pay for their sins.”

Amir smiled, only for a brief moment. Jon nodded, and went on with his explanation.

“I got word that they knew. And you know if they had time to act, they wouldn’t stop until one, or both of us was dead.”

Amir paused, looking down at the bat in his hands. “So, you… faked your own death?”

“Yes!” Jon clapped his hands together, his wolf ears twitching happily. Until he caught a look of Amir’s face, almost red with anger.

“Why didn’t you tell me that was your plan!” He threw the bat on the ground and stepped closer, grabbing the front of Jon’s hoodie and pulling him down to his level. “How do I even know it’s you and not just-, just some-, someone from the Council here to kill me and Max, trying to gain my trust!”

Jon’s ears went back and tail went between his legs. “The Council is ruthless, and the fact that you brought that up confirms that. I couldn’t tell you because if you knew I was still alive, they’d find out about it. They always do, Am, you know they do… And I don’t know what I could do to prove to you that I’m actually… me, but, if you’ve got a way, I’ll do it.” Jon carefully brought his hand up to where Amir’s was still clinging to his hoodie, placing his hand over Amir’s. “I could show you the sigil that you had sewn into this sweater, or the scar from fighting trolls when we were younger. I’ll answer any question.”

Amir stared down at their hands, the anger in his veins finally cooling down. The Council had their way of finding things. They had their way of ruining things, and causing harm, and Amir knew this. And somewhere, deep down, he knew that Jon was right. If he knew Jon was actually alive, the Council would somehow find that out, and one or both of them would be killed. His grip on Jon’s sweatshirt loosened, and he pulled his hand back. He glared down at the floor. “Why did you eat all the damn cereal before you ‘killed’ yourself.” He asked, looking up at him with a cold look that he couldn’t quite contain. “My best friend died and I had no cereal! And why are you already eating all my goddamn cereal! At least wait to talk to me before you eat all my cereal!” Despite the anger at first, he was grinning. Jon huffed a laugh and threaded his hand through his hair once more.

“I was hungry! I like cereal!” Jon grinned. Amir swatted at his arm and Jon yelped.

They grinned and giggled for only a minute, before the happy emotions fell from Amir’s face, and he quickly stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Jon, burying his face against his shoulder.

“I missed you so much.” He whispered.

Jon let out a breath, quickly returning the hug as tears rushed to his eyes. “It was so hard knowing you guys were out there but not being able to talk to you.”

“Where were you?” Amir whispered. Jon smiled lightly.

“I was with my family.” He answered. “My mom… made me stay an extra year.” He sighed. Amir frowned.

“Why?” He asked.

“The Council stopped paying attention to this house a little over a year ago. I… wanted to go back right then, but, my mother said it’d be safer to wait some time before going and running back. Which… I guess makes sense, it’d be best not to immediately go back to the crime scene only days after they quit the investigation.”

“Your mom’s smart.”

“She has her moments.” Jon shrugged. Amir laughed.

The two stayed together for a long moment before pulling away. Amir picked up the bat and wandered back to the front door, putting it back in its place.

“I missed you.” He said again, and Jon smiled.

“I missed you, too.”

“I might’ve accidentally cursed you when I first came down here.” Amir admitted.

Jon nodded slowly, nervously threading his fingers through his hair. “Yeah… should’ve expected that. Can we, can you break the curse, then?” Jon smiled nervously. Amir shrugged.

“I dunno. I might just leave it for a while as punishment.” Amir said thoughtfully. Jon flushed red.

“No, bad idea, bad idea, I don’t like this plan.” Jon said, talking a mile a minute. Amir grinned.

"Only kidding."

Jon huffed.


End file.
